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Show Ozark Hermit Mode Legend Bizarre Act Ends Life Of Strange Millionaire DADEVTLLE, Mo. Horace Kirby, the millionaire hermit of Dade county, carried his eccentric life down to his last breath and his death left residents of the region, long amused and amazed by many of his acts, with a bizarre story the equal of anything in his lifetime. The colorful character ended his life by drowning after tying himself him-self to a large stone and pushing it into the Sac river. His act closed a life of 83 years that found him acquiring ac-quiring a fortune of about three million dollars and providing the Ozarks with an endless supply of stories. One of the most familiar tales about him concerns one of his trips to Texas. He stopped at an Oklahoma town and entered a farm implement store to warm himself. The proprietor proprie-tor glanced pityingly at the half frozen figure and finally offered him an overcoat. Kirby accepted the coat gladly put it on and turned this way and that to admire the effect. He was as pleased as a small boy with new boots. Then he began walking about the display room, examining the farm machinery. After a while he approached the proprietor again. "What price," he asked, "could you give me on four tractors, two combines and a half dozen cultivators?" |